"Impact of Land Use/Cover Changes on Physical Water Quality Parameters within the Bamboutos Watershed, Cameroon"

Freshwater quality is highly affected by Land Use/Land Cover Change (LULCC).Streams in the Bamboutos watershed are faced with threats from various land use/cover mutation activities.The objective of the study was to assess the impact of LULCC on physical water parameters from 7 streams flowing through various LULC in the dry and rainy seasons.The Water Quality Index (WQI) was computed from 4 parameters within 7 streams at two sampling points (upstream and downstream).Physical parameters were measured in situ using a portable Compo pH/EC meter and the Analysis of Variance was used to investigate if significant variations in water quality parameters exist.The WHO [1] 2011 standard was then employed to compare values of each element analysed.Results showed significant spatiotemporal variations in stream pH, EC, TDS and water temperatures.Except for TDS with a downstream percentage of (35.71); pH (71.42), EC (57.14) and water temperatures (100) had higher downstream values than those of the upstream.Temporally, dry season values for EC and water temperature were all higher than their corresponding rainy season values, except for pH for all 7 streams.WQI assessment revealed that stream water at all sampling points was good for 5 streams, except for 2 (settlement and mixed land use streams), whose qualities had marginal status.Stream water parameters in this watershed area are thus under threat from land use/cover change activities.The study recommends the re-enforcement of environmental management laws to ensure the supply of good freshwater quality.